And That Happened

Nationals 6, Mets 4: Roger Bernadina was 3 for 5 with two homers — including the game-winner — and had a sweet grab in right field. And did Rob Dibble really say — in dialect — “that boy’s good!” after his ninth inning homer?  Why yes, he did. Oy.

Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 2: Tim Wakefield’s knuckler was dancing all day, but it took a bad step in front of Travis Snider’s bat in the seventh. Shaun Marcum, in contrast, made almost no mistakes, allowing only two hits and shutting out the Sox over seven. Worth noting, even in a loss: David Ortiz has hit in five straight and is hitting.310 with three home runs in May.  Still striking out too much and not walking enough, but it’s something.

Rockies 4, Phillies 3: Miguel Olivo caps off a 5 for 5 day with a walkoff homer in the bottom of the tenth. Melvin Mora left the game with a strained butt.  Really. Indeed, it would be wholly accurate to say that Mora is day-to-day with an ass.

Twins 3, White Sox 2: I don’t care if the Twins won. This was a pretty sweet catch.

Cubs 4, Marlins 3: Carlos Silva at 4-0 is but a half-step down on the improbability scale from Ugly Kid Joe coming out with a hit single and selling out arenas.

Tigers 2, Yankees 0:  At least no one can blame this one on Javy Vazquez (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7K). Or can they?

Yankees 8, Tigers 0: Phil Hughes was sharp once again and the Tigers wasted Jeremy Bonderman’s best start of the season. Well, maybe wasted is too strong a word — he stood to be the loser even when he left — but that six-spot the bullpen allowed in the ninth inning was pretty dispiriting all the same.

Braves 9, Brewers 2: Another bullpen catastrophe for the Brewers as Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva each give up two runs in one inning of work and Trevor Hoffman allows three, raising his ERA to 12.00 on the season.  For the Braves, Eric Hinske may be winning the left field job, as he had his second multi-hit game in a row. Of course, the way the Brewers pitching has been going, this series sweep may not have provided a true read of any Braves hitter’s ability.

Reds 5, Pirates 0Handled this one yesterday afternoon.  Between this ugly and lifeless shutout and the Penguins’ Game-7 loss to the eighth-seeded Habs, yesterday may have been the worst day in Pittsburgh sports since Sid Bream slid home safe.  We now return this blog to another three years of ignoring hockey.

Rays 4, Angels 3: Usually when one team has a starter strike out 12 guys and the other team has to use six pitchers, the 12-strikeout guy’s team wins. Not so yesterday, as David Price and five Rays relievers beat Jered Weaver’s 12 Ks in seven innings. The Rays scored twice on passed balls charged to Angels’ catcher Ryan Budde. Scioscia ought to just pencil his own name into the lineup for day games after night games.

Orioles 5, ______ 2: Brad Bergesen pitched seven and two-thirds innings of one run ball as the Orioles win.  I will not name or talk about the O’s opponent in these recaps until they stop being jackasses and cease their juvenile blackballing of reporter Larry LaRue.

Astros 9, Cardinals 6: Kyle Lohse was on duty when the Astros scored all nine of their runs, but he was only charged with four. This says far more about the randomness of the earned run rule than it does about Loshe’s performance, because he was hit pretty hard, pretty often.

Rangers 10, Athletics 1: Remember that thing I said in the power rankings the other day? About how the Rangers had been playing with one hand tied behind their back?  Yeah, this is what I was talking about.Derek Holland struck out seven in six shutout innings in his first start of the season. The offense let loose. It’s not going to take much for a team to separate itself from the pack in the AL West this year. Perhaps the Rangers are doing it.

Padres 5, Giants 2: That sound you hear is the sound of people coming to grips with the fact of how for real this Padres team is. They’re now 5-0 against the Giants this year, the only team in the west who looks poised to put up much of a fight. I’m struggling to think of a team that, in the preseason, looked so bad but once the bell rung looked so good.

Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 3: Hiroki Kuroda returned to the park where the comebacker smacked him in the head last year and, despite a leadoff walk he chalked up to nerves, cruised, striking out nine and giving up three runs in seven and a third.  Manny Ramirez had three RBI. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I hadn’t even realized that he had returned from the DL. If you can’t depend on ridiculous Manny hype in this world, what can you depend on?

Phillies vs. Rockies (game 2): Postponed: The sky was dark and gloomy, the air was damp and raw, the streets were wet and sloppy. The smoke hung sluggishly above the chimney-tops as if it lacked the courage to rise, and the rain came slowly and doggedly down, as if it had not even the spirit to pour.

Indians 4, Royals 0: Multiple rain delays, so for a while I thought this one was going to be postponed. I even picked out a rain quote before I went to bed and everything: “Up the two terrace flights of steps the rain ran wildly, and beat at the great door, like a swift messenger rousing those within.”  That’s from A Tale of Two Cities. As entertainments go, it’s far more engaging than a Royals-Indians tilt that stretches late into a Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Um, of course, I watched a lot of the Indians-Royals tilt and relied on Cliff’s Notes for a A Tale of Two Cities back in the day, so what does that say about me?


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CincyPhins
13 years ago

I guess i will stop reading Craigs articles, for being a jackass and not recognizing Seattle,s right to talk to whomever they wish. I for one support their “blackballing” of what they believe to be a “hack” job by a reporter. If i feel someone has done something wrong, I can make the choice to no longer associate with that person.

Craig Calcaterra
13 years ago

Of course you can make that choice. And I can choose to call you petty and vindictive for doing so.

Jim G.
13 years ago

There seems to be enough problems on both sides of the Griffey story. On the one hand, why would LaRue “make up” the story? Something personal against Jr.? Knowing Griffey, I doubt it. What does LaRue have to gain by making it up. Seemingly nothing. Although, maybe he’s forcing Griffey to retire to get his spot filled by someone who can still hit.
LaRue is in the wrong because he didn’t speak to Griffey directly to give him a chance to respond. This is especially unfortunate considering Griffey’s storied career and his stature in MLB, let alone Seattle.
Another question is, did LaRue REALLY have to pursue this story? Why tarnish the image of a guy who is considered to be the few stars to stay clean during the steroid era? Staying clean is more impressive when you consider how tempting it must have been to turn to steriods with all the injuries Jr. endured. LaRue could have let this one go. It’s a silly story, anyway. Griffey will be gone soon. Let him go peacefully.
Finally, the Mariners players ARE overreacting. They probably scoured the clubhouse to figure out who sang, and when they failed to produce they assumed that LaRue was lying. Instead, they should understand that their failure does not necessarily mean it didn’t happen. They can go ahead and be mad at LaRue, but the boycott is childish.

CincyPhins
13 years ago

I can live with “petty and vindictive” if it means sticking up for what i believe, but are you not also being “petty and vindictive” in your actions towards the Mariners? Would not a simple,I dont agree with the Mariners been sufficent?

Jim G. I agree with you in general. The boycott, although being childish may also be a needed spark for the team. I still believe they have the right to boycott, not that it is their best choice.  Hmmm, and here we are back at choices…

Jake
13 years ago

while we’re at it, can we blank out the name of the team that continues to employ Chief Wahoo?